Flexible Swivel

ABSTRACT

A flexible swivel has a flexible toroid described by an internal major diameter, a fore ring, a body, and an aft ring. The flexible toroid is attached to the fore ring. The fore ring is attached with a rotatable fore joint to the front of the body. The aft ring is attached to the back of the body.

COPYRIGHT AND TRADEMARK NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material towhich a claim for copyright is made. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but reserves all other copyright rightswhatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention relate to swivels used in fishingor for other purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An effective way to fish for offshore game fish, such as marlin, is touse a ballyhoo fishing rig. There are two basic types of ballyhoo rigsdescribed in the prior art: a ballyhoo O-ring rig; and a ballyhoo rigidswivel rig.

FIG. 1A is a photograph of the front end of a ballyhoo O-ring rig 100from a top perspective. The O-ring rig comprises a leading hook 102, aflexible O-ring 104, a rigging wire 106 and a dead bait fish 108, suchas a ballyhoo. The rigging wire passes through the O-ring and is wrappedaround the head of the bait fish to secure it to the O-ring. The leadinghook passes through the O-ring. The O-ring is described by an O-ringmajor internal diameter (ID) 116.

The leading hook comprises a shaft 122 and a barb 124. The shaft isdescribed by a shaft outer diameter (OD) 114. The barb is described by abarb span 112.

The O-ring major ID is about the same as the shaft OD. The O-ring mayfit snugly on the shaft. The O-ring must be flexible enough so that itcan stretch under the force a typical person can produce with their handso that the O-ring will fit over the barb span when the hook is placedthrough the O-ring major ID.

One of the disadvantages of the O-ring rig is that when a game fishtakes the bait and exerts force on the line attached to the hook, thehook may not be in the correct orientation to hook the game fish in itsjaw. Thus, the rig may pop out of the fish's mouth. To overcome thisproblem, some anglers use a ballyhoo rigid swivel rig.

FIG. 1B is a photograph of a side view of the front of a prior artballyhoo rigid swivel rig 120. The rigid swivel rig comprises a leadinghook 102, a rigid swivel 122, a rigging wire 106 and a dead bait fish108. The rigid swivel comprises a rigid fore ring 124, a body 126 and anaft ring 128. The fore ring is attached to the body of the swivel with arotatable fore joint 125. The aft ring is attached to the body with arotatable aft joint 127. The fore ring is described by a fore ring ID132.

The aft ring is buried in the bait fish's upper lip and not visible. Therigging wire passes through the aft ring and is wrapped around the headof the bait fish. This may cause the body of the swivel to press againstthe upper lip of the bait fish thus not allowing the body of the swivelto rotate freely relative to the aft ring.

The leading hook passes through the fore ring. The fore ring ID must beslightly less than the barb span 112 of the hook so that the fore ringwill “click” over the barb 124 when the hook is inserted through thefore ring. The fore ring ID, therefore is significantly larger than theshaft OD 114 of the hook shaft 122. The fore ring is rigid hence it fitsloosely over the shaft and may come off in use. There is a need,therefore, for a swivel for use in fishing for game fish that isflexible enough to fit over the barb of a fore hook and make a snug fitwith the shaft while still allowing said fore hook to rotate freelyrelative to the bait fish and hence properly catch said game fish's jawwhen said game fish takes the bait.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The summary of the invention is provided as a guide to understanding theinvention. It does not necessarily describe the most generic embodimentof the invention or the broadest range of alternative embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a perspective rendering of a flexible swivel 200 suitable foruse in a ballyhoo fishing rig. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectionperspective rendering of the flexible swivel 200 of FIG. 2. Referring toFIGS. 2 and 3, the flexible swivel comprises:

-   -   a) a flexible toroid 202 described by a major internal diameter        308;    -   b) a fore ring 204;    -   c) a body 206; and    -   d) an aft ring 208

wherein:

-   -   e) said flexible toroid is attached to said fore ring;    -   f) said fore ring is attached to the front 214 of said body with        a rotatable fore joint 205; and    -   g) said aft ring is attached to the back 216 of said body.        The aft ring may be attached to the body with either a rotatable        aft joint 207, or a non-rotatable aft joint (not shown).

A used herein, a toroid is any object with a hole in it. A regulartoroid is a toroid whose surface is described by the circular revolutionof a circle. An irregular toroid is a toroid whose surface departs froma circular revolution of a circle.

Toroid 202 is a regular toroid. It may be described by a major ID 308and a minor OD 304. The toroid may comprise a flexible material. Theflexible material may be an elastomer, such as rubber, nitrile, orsilicon rubber. A suitable durometer of said flexible material may beabout 70 Shore A. A suitable durometer may be in the range of 60 to 90Shore A.

The major ID, minor ID and elastomer may be selected such that theflexible toroid will stretch to pass over the barb of a hook and thenrelax to a major ID that is about the same as the OD of a hook shaft.Thus, the flexible toroid will fit snugly on said shaft. When theflexible swivel is used in a ballyhoo rig, it will have the surprisingcombined benefits of an O-ring rig and a rigid swivel rig. The flexibleswivel can be used in any application where the toroid must stretch andfit over an object and still rotate relative to the body of saidflexible swivel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a photograph of a top view of the front of a prior art O-ringballyhoo rig.

FIG. 1B is a photograph of a side view of the front of a prior art rigidswivel ballyhoo rig.

FIG. 2 is a rendering of a perspective view of a flexible swivelsuitable for use in a ballyhoo fishing rig.

FIG. 3 is a rendering of a longitudinal cross section of a perspectiveview of the flexible swivel of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rendering of a perspective view of a flexible swivel with anirregular flexible toroid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description describes non-limiting exemplary embodiments.Any individual features may be combined with other features as requiredby different applications for at least the benefits described herein. Asused herein, the term “about” means plus or minus 10% of a given valueunless specifically indicated otherwise.

As used herein, the term “shaped” means that an item has the overallappearance of a given shape even if there are minor variations from thepure form of said given shape.

As used herein, the term “generally” when referring to a shape meansthat an ordinary observer will perceive that an object has said shapeeven if there are minor variations from said shape.

As used herein, relative orientation terms, such as “up”, “down”, “top”,“bottom”, “left”, “right”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “distal” and“proximal” are defined with respect to an initial presentation of anobject and will continue to refer to the same portion of an object evenif the object is subsequently presented with an alternative orientation,unless otherwise noted.

Method of Manufacture

Referring to FIGS. 3, a suitable method for manufacturing of a flexibleswivel comprises the steps of:

-   -   a) insert a fore ring wire 212 through a major internal diameter        308 of a flexible toroid 202, said fore ring wire comprising a        first end 314 and a second end 316;    -   b) insert said ends of said fore ring wire through a fore hole        318 of said body 206 and into an interior space 322 of said        body; and    -   c) swage 302 said ends of said fore ring wire so that said ends        will form a rotatable fore joint 205 and remain inside said body        when longitudinal tension is placed on said flexible swivel.

The fore ring may be sized such that the fore ring ID 306 is about thesame as the minor ID 304 of the flexible toroid. A suitable dimensionfor the fore ring ID and toroid minor ID is about 10 mm. Other sizes maybe used in other applications. A suitable toroid major ID is about 10mm. Other sizes may be used in other applications.

In an alternative embodiment, the flexible toroid may be molded throughthe fore ring after the fore ring is formed. The flexible toroid may bemade in a two-step double injection process.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flexible swivel 400 with an irregular flexibletoroid 402 is formed by overmolding the irregular flexible toroid on tothe fore ring 204 such that the toroid major ID 403 is forward of thefore ring.

Conclusion

While the disclosure has been described with reference to one or moredifferent exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may besubstituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt to aparticular situation without departing from the essential scope orteachings thereof. For example, the flexible toroids described herein donot have to be circular. They can be any shape and dimensions that wouldflex to admit a hook and barb and then, once past the barb, form a snugfit with the shaft of the hook. Said shapes include square, oval, andany solid shape with an opening to admit the hook. Therefore, it isintended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodimentdisclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention.

I claim:
 1. A flexible swivel suitable for use in a ballyhoo fishing rigcomprising: a) a flexible toroid described by a major internal diameter;b) a fore ring; c) a body; and d) an aft ring wherein: e) said flexibletoroid is attached to said fore ring; f) said fore ring is attached tothe front of said body with a rotatable fore joint; and g) said aft ringis attached to the back of said body.
 2. The flexible swivel of claim 1wherein said fore ring comprises a fore ring wire that passes throughsaid major internal diameter of said flexible toroid.
 3. The flexibleswivel of claim 2 wherein said fore ring is formed by steps comprising:a) insert a fore ring wire through said major internal diameter of saidflexible toroid, said fore ring wire comprising a first end and a secondend; b) insert said ends of said fore ring wire through a fore hole ofsaid body and into an interior space of said body; and c) swage saidends of said fore ring wire so that said ends will form said rotatablefore joint and remain inside said body when longitudinal tension isplaced on said flexible swivel.
 4. The flexible swivel of claim 2wherein said flexible toroid is formed by steps comprising: a) moldingan elastomer through said fore ring.
 5. The flexible swivel of claim 1wherein said flexible toroid is a regular toroid.
 6. The flexible swivelof claim 1 wherein: a) said toroid is an irregular toroid; and b) saidtoroid is overmolded on to said fore ring.